A tiger cub almost escaped from a Hanoian zoo after scaling a nine-meter-high iron fence last month, a zoo official told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.

Nguyen Cuc Phuong, deputy director of the Hanoi Zoo, said Thursday the incident occurred on November 12.

The eight-month-old cub, weighing around 40 kilograms, managed to clamber up the cage's horizontal bars and reach the top when it was spotted by visitors, one of whom videotaped the scene and posted it on the internet recently.

Security officers then climbed up and managed to net the animal's head.

It took them 30 minutes to bring the tiger back to its cage.

"It has never happened before in our zoo," Phuong said.

"Normally, only leopards climb, while tigers jump.".

The tiger was one of four cubs born in the zoo last April.

It was the second time the cub appeared in a video clip. On Dec 5 a two-minute clip on YouTube showed two boys teasing tigers through cage bars at the zoo.